AIR CORRESPONDENCE Letters to the Editor
8 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 21
After the aircraft was withdrawn from BEA
service in the late summer of 1947, G-AHOG’s
ownership reverted to the Ministry of Civil
Aviation, to which it had originally been
registered on May 21, 1946. It was flown from
Renfrew to Ringway where it languished until
scrapped by the British Aluminium Company
Ltd at its Latchford works at Warrington in
February 1948.
Moving on to TAH19, I was very interested in
the piece on the Lockheed SR-71 (Giant Reach:
The Blackbird in East Anglia). I was at Mildenhall
on the occasion of that penultimate flight out
and took about 15min of video of McCleary and
Gudmunsdon, preparing for the flight, taxying
the -71 out of the open-ended barn all the while
dripping fuel from every orifice until it started
moving, the thundering take-off and two fly-bys;
all very impressive. By the time I had motored
back home I think the SR-71 had already arrived
at its USA destination!
The other thing I remember about that
afternoon at Mildenhall is an armed “female”
Military Policeperson who threatened to shoot
anyone who dared to cross the red line adjacent
to the barn!
So for me there was plenty of interest in both
editions of TA H. Well done for your continuing
high standard; every issue is a joy to peruse.
Richard T. Riding Radlett, Hertfordshire
Back to front
SIR — Congratulations on another splendid
issue. As an old “Hawker man”, I was fascinated
by Philip Jarrett’s Hornet/Norn piece, The
Hornet Dilemma, in TAH19.
Please advise him that Bert Hayward (whom I
knew well at Dunsfold) is definitely second from
right in the photograph on page 80 [and BELOW].
I suggest that Bulman’s caption may somehow
have got transposed since 1931!
Ambrose Barber Petersfield, Hampshirealso freestanding gibson flightline
PIC see taken in TAH20 4 image &
notesFURTHER DETAILS OF the ski-equipped French Vampire (Lost & Found, TAH15) have come from Jean-Christophe
Altherr in France, who writes: “The history you seek is to be found on pages 145–146 of the Numéro spécial Trait
d’Union 1980: D.H.100 Vampire et SE.535 Mistral en France. The undercarriage was designed and built by the DOP
company to enable the Mistral to take off and land on unprepared strips. The ski itself, shown ABOVE RIGHT, was
mounted on Mistral prototype No 02; it was ground-tested in December 1954 and flight-tested the following January.
While the test results were satisfactory on a grass field, the ski appeared to be unsuitable for a hard surface —
impeding, for example, movement of the aircraft inside a hangar. DOP then designed a special trolley equipped with
two small wheels, seen ABOVE. After the Mistral had landed using the skis, the trolleys were simply put in front of
the aircraft (after it had been chocked), and the pilot gently moved forward to place the skis on the trolleys. All in all,
however, the system was considered too complex for operations. During the first quarter of 1956 another Mistral,
No 61, was equipped with the skis and tested by the Centre d’Expériences Aériennes Militaires between March 1956
and February 1957. The absence of any markings in your picture suggests it shows the Mistral prototype.”Those
Mistral
skis...
Ambrose Barber Petersfield, Hampshirealso freestanding gibson flightline
PIC see taken in TAH20 4 image &also freestanding gibson flightline
PIC see taken in TAH20 4 image &also freestanding gibson flightline
notes
PIC see taken in TAH20 4 image &
notesPIC see taken in TAH20 4 image &